I won't suggest taking it further with this kid. Leave it open-ended. Perhaps show the Guardian Angel solo'ing again, and Death on a solo run, then have them meet up again. This has a great tone. I'd love to watch the Guardian Angel grow into the role, and see how her interactions with Death change as she matures.

Perhaps she'll become one of the best GAs on the beat, cheating him again and again. Their repartee could be so rich, with him trying to undercut her confidence and saying that her first few victories were gimmes because he was feeling sorry for her, etc.

The only politics that I have felt compelled to write are usually dystopias ~ the corrupt government / oppressive setting types / cyberpunk type young adult novels. I'm aware that this is extremely cliche and I do have an appreciation for more 'socially recognised' works like Brave New World, Animal Farm and A Clockwork Orange (such an amazing read). I also realise that I have only described a very narrow area of the political genre, but right now, I'm at the stage of my life where I'm trying to find my place in the world, hence my attraction to coming-of-age type stories and stories that feature fantasy settings.

A Clockwork Orange = love. I think I'm the only person in the world who cried while reading that. FOR the main character. :/

As far as politics go, I'm not sure I consciously put them in my works. I do always have a "higher power" at work, though. This could be the government, the protagonist, or whatever religion I'm playing with at the moment.

Generally, I guess my fantasy lands are reigned over by kings and queens. Benevolent monarchs, 'cuz I'm old-fashioned like that. Uprisings are way too much work, if you ask me. Works that take place in the real world are all laconic, so I focus more on characters and less on...everything else. (It's a problem, I know, and I strive to fix it!)

I need to get cracking on A Clockwork Orange, then. I've been forcefed too much lit, and I think ACO was among them. Nothing turns a kid off a work than being ordered to read it.

So, now that we've broached the second of the trio of Big Nos, (the third being sex) what sorts of religions to people write into their stories? Prevalence and influence? Derived from Judeo-Christian or your own pantheon / belief structure?

Me, I tend to write cozy and small-scoped story, so the most politics or religion I'll add in is the lowly representative: a priest, a local politician. They tend to be their own character, not indicative of the religion as a whole. (They also tend to be antagonists, which does not reflect my own opinions. They just turned out that way while writing the story.)

Of course there are the political thrillers in novel and TV form ~ they all tend to be too convoluted for my liking, although I really enjoyed reading and watching Jason Bourne, hehe. I find that a lot of modern thrillers / spy novels are empty or just driven by plot. Although engaging to read, I find them easily forgettable in that they don't invoke my imagination the same way a dystopia or fantasy does.

If you've a penchant for spy thrillers, might I recommend the following:

- Redford and Pitt's Spy Game. Audacious setup that the writers pull off. This is a story that is plot-driven, yes, but in doing so, they give enough characterization that I was seriously invested in what happened to ... well, but that'd be telling.

- Clooney and Kidman's The Peacemaker. Scariest spy thriller because it's so plausible.

In both, I have to give the writers a tip of the hat for actually writing a plot, rare as it sounds. The plot wasn't simply a vehicle on which to deliver explosions and gunplay. Rare, well done (no, we're not talking steak here) and stunning.